Reach
Reach is the name of a Human-controlled planet located in the Epsilon Eridani system and was one of the heaviest populated worlds in the core. It was also one of the major examples of planetary terraformation following the Covenant War of the 26th Century. Reach itself was notable for its military bastion back before the war and even since. It was home to the 1st Exosolar Defense Fleet which composes the highest dreadnought ratio in the UNSC fleet. Reach has two moons, one of which has a large system of rings. On the planet, a dominant Hungarian culture was present with many colonists speaking the language and expressing cultural norms taken from the country centuries ago. Local cities and landmasses also had Hungarian-derived names. It shares the same star system as Tribute Planetary Description What was most notable about Reach was its age. The Epsilon Eridani system is quite young, especially compared to other stars in the same general area. Reach sits on the edge of a large debris field which may eventually coalesce into planetesimals in the future. Reach is occasionally struck by some of this material, though many of the chunks are of little to no danger to the planet thanks to the pair of moons acting as gravitational deflectors. Due to the age, Reach has many harsh surface features expected from upheaval of the crust, but what was striking to scientists and geologists was that the surface was remarkably stable considering the age. Reach still has many volcanoes, which ruled out having the core cool down, which would be impossible for a planet of that age. Some geologists speculate that perhaps Reach is in a stability period which represents a stability in geological time. Several earthquakes have been recorded following the resettlement of Reach that have reached a level of 8 on the Richter scale, proving that the planet still had its fair of shakes. Large jagged mountains cut into the sky, the most notable of which was Mount Kazad, which reached a staggering 26,018 feet. Despite the height, it was only second on the list for tallest peak in the system. On these mountains, vegetation was sparse, even after its initial terraformation. Reach was located slightly closer to the sun, meaning that its temperatures were slightly better than its immediate neighbor, Tribute. Deserts were common around the equator, and even in the Northern region where large mountain ranges trapped heat. From orbit, one of Reach's most notable geographic features were its large craters, most notably the Pzlaim Basin, a large crater hundreds of kilometers wide in the northern region of the world. This is considered one of the instantly recognizable features of Reach. Other large craters exist all over the world and on the ocean floor which indicate Reach's past was extremely violent. Reach had a longer day that Earth at 27 hours nearly exactly. The years were considered so precise that many inhabitants were unfamiliar with the concept of a leap year with the revolution period being 390 days, which made acclimating to the environment somewhat easy to Terran travelers or long-term inhabitants. The atmosphere was engineered and remains at exactly 1 atm. Its gravity was only 8% higher than that of Earth's, which led to the belief that Reach was not as dense as Earth. It was in terms of diameter much larger, measuring in at 15,273 kilometers. Moons Reach had two moons, Turul and Csodaszarvus (pronounced So-DAS-ZAR-vus), both named after Hungarian spirits, a mythological bird and deer respectively. Turul is believed to be an asteroid that has been captured by the planet, It is an irregularly shaped potato-like rock that was believed to be caught in the gravity roughly 70-80 thousand years ago. It serves little purpose due to its size but small waystations exist on the moon's surface, which exhibits one twentieth of the gravity that is on Reach's surface. Compared to its smaller brother, Csodaszarvus was large enough to have an atmosphere which was originally Carbon Dioxide and Nitrogen but was terraformed after Reach in 2650. The moon now has a rich Nitrogen-Oxygen mix. Csodaszarvus has a relatively higher gravity of .65G, which has a noticeable bounce on the surface. Cities exist in isolated locations due to the mountainous terrain of the moon, though clearings allow for civilization to exist in several areas. Shuttles allow for travel between the planet and moon. It also is tidally locked to Reach, which suggests that it formed as a companion a long time ago. It also has a ring system which indicates that it suffered an impact event in the past, which scientists believe is the case due to the fact that Csodaszarvus faced Reach pole-on, much like how Uranus orbits with a 180 degree rotation on its axis. List of Appearances * Journal of Sally Acorn (First Appearance) Category:Locations Category:Planet